Focus on this...

or almost into focus....

Guess who has a cold...HOW'd you know? Oh well at least its Saturday and I can sneeze at will and cough and blow my snoz without grossing people out.  I HAD planned to do so much  today and IF these  meds will kick IN and do what the BOX claims they do I should be out running sprints in a few minutes...but while I wait..Ill wrap up the last weeks nature notes... I have tons to say on other fronts, but trust me you wouldnt want to hear most of that!!

LAST night we almost had FROST. I KNOW scared the bejesus outta me...all my plants were out and at risk! Ive enjoyed FINALLY getting a couple of tulips to bloom...I put them in pots this yr and that was a good idea-- I bet Ive spent 10s of dollars on bulbs that never come up..



and here is the welcoming committee when I arrive home from work each day, I always swing by and get the mail before heading down the drive..and this guy was NOT too sure he wanted me to get it...look at that daring stare he is giving me....someone is always watching every move you make!!!

HE finally did move on and let me open the box....and  a flock of Cedar waxwings dipped into the yard to comsume the berries on the cedar tree!! Here they are picking up the ones that hit the ground..

Ive seem some large flocks of turkey, but this one was all alone...

Last weekend I had my friend over to celebrate her birthday and we went to Goodale Park and had  a nice walk around 2 geese seemed to be partnered up....here they are taking a stroll at the edge of the pond.....they blend in pretty well!!  

AND need some help from the readers...I looked at my small butterfly field guide and online, and I cant zero in on this butterfly...at first I thought Black Swallowtail, then I thought female Eastern Tiger Swallow, but that orange line on the base of the hindwing---is keeping me from making a postive ID..what do you think?

WE def saw a pair of northern parula's in the trees got a good look too, but that was when I decided to leave the camera in the car as we hiked the backside of the lake... IN a case like that I was repsonsible for recalling 2 marking ID's and she was repsonsible for 2 and between the 2 of us and our 4 clues when we got back to the bird book, it was the White eye markings that nailed it-as the Northern Parula.

Here's a parting shot of another waxwing who waited in the pine tree for his turn at the cedar, they went into hiding when I came over to try for close ups..

Hope you all have a fun weekend whatever you are doing  Im planning a Doggie Biscut hunt with the girls since Im alone this Easter...I think they would like that!! Here is Annie as she demonstrates the stop, drop and roll in the field, ENJOY your weekend.

SOMEBODY NEEDS A BATH----



PEACE



Kind Of a Blustery Day ~~~~

...a friend and I were to go birding today in a neighboring county, then on Friday the weather man said Cold and 20 mph winds for Saturday and being old birds sun loving chickadees ourselves we figured sitting on a cold bench trying to scarf down picnic food in the wind and attempting to focus binos on a bird hanging onto a swaying branch is NOT exactly fun---SO we postponed to next weekend...and HOPE for the better clymes then.

...so I went about my day...DANG that weather man  I ought to string him up ....it got cold and windy but not till late in the afternoon...Im pretty sure we would have gotten in a good day before the front hit....anyways I did a little birding around the house before errands.  The Junco's are still hanging around here..

dark-eyed junco

I love the matching pink beak and legs of these guys this is a male..the females are a lighter color not such a dark grey...and waiting his turn at the feeder is the White Throated Sparrow...


white throated sparrow

One of my favorite singers...he has about every shade of brown in his feathers and the yellow lores are a nice complement to his coloration.  They usually scratch around on the ground, but I notice more and more they are taking a turn up on the feeders.  They normally leave us when its time to breed.

The Brown Headed Cowbird is not a well like bird due to the parasitic behavior, but they are pretty birds..

A northern cardinal really stood out amongst the woods....we have had a good bunch of Cardinals..males and females, they do not migrate.

Then had to spend money run errands so on the way back stopped at my local lake there was NOT ONE water bird around...maybe some canada geese way back in the reeds I didnt hike over to the far side...but the water was pretty, with the Cyprus all lined up in the background...

 Goodale State Park

Then the weather changed up-- you can see the ripples in the water and it did get quite unpleasant with that cold wind so I didnt hang around..

I found a few items to add to the Dixxeland Express today....a wrap around screen for the 10x10 canopy, a folding "tailgate party" table, and some solar party lights---one more thing I need now is some "grass Carpet" a 10 x 10 foot piece I am looking for a really cheap one that I can fold up IM getting so excited---i did find a multi colored cheap rug and I'm pondering that one...
ITS almost time for a road trip. I am noticing gas prices are on the rise again.  ;0/

OH and a red shouldered hawk is attempting to build a nest in a tall pine near my yard...IF she continues I hope to be able to record some of her comings n goings...she may be faking it tho so we'll see...last weekend she was sqwaking and making a ruckus and found a good spot in a tree...

PEACE

YIPPIE--a sunny day!

My son and I had a wonderful Christmas together--IT was simple and lovely from my point of view and I think he felt the same he was all smiles!!

Feels like Sunday to me...but of course its Monday and IM OFF..

WOW feels so good to be off for more than a weekend.

I did some yard work early getting ready to "sweep" the front yard that is buried under about 40 ton of fallen leaves...lol SO I got 5 gallons of gas for the mower and guess how much I paid per gallon? $2.98 I filled up my car too...and tomorrow I'll probably take the D-L Express (my van) down and fill her up too!! JIC it shoots back up --ya know how it is...down by the interstate the gas was $3.06 can we say RIP OFF--

So after the yard prep (pickin up the larger sticks, and raking the leaves that had drifted up against the fence) I had to go to Quaker cemetery to take 2 grave photos to complete the 16 I agreed to take.  Somehow I missed 2 of them..DUH--
well I always see other interesting bits of real-life when Im there like this Italian Cypress tree its TALL and arrow straight...

Some of the family plots were decked out for the holiday...

One of the interred received roses for Christmas...sure was pretty garnised with Eastern Red Cedar greenery saturated with beautiful blue cedar berries.

The cemetery has lots of wrought iron, and brickwork too I love this old wall that surrounds some of the older graves..

I like to combine birdwatching with all other activities...its easy to do, not easy to photo the birds you find tho---

I wonder if this northern mockingbird is thinking of eating these fake berries on this fake floral arrangement?  He was guarding a small family plot in the new area...he was not happy with me being around and made a couple of low fly-bys to get me moving!

He looks like part of the arrangement..

HE blends in nicely colorwise don't you think?

after this stop at Quaker I headed out to Lee County to take 3 more photos for another family and stayed the rest of the afternoon, I really liked this tree it was quite lovely as the sun went down...

then I headed home and was greeted by this lovely sight in the darkening sky...

A  sundog

I had a great day....cant wait till tomorrow--but for now I HAVE to get back to eating CHOCOLATE leftovers!!

 

PEACE

WBW 12- Watch the Birdie~

This week and next --very busy for me, sometimes we have to earn a living--and Im trying as hard as I can to do it from home--NOT easy! You have to scrimp and save and put lots of things on hold so no trips to report back about on this post.  However that doesn't stop me from sharing birds I ran into -mostly the local yokels-- so here goes--I did take a drive down a different country lane last week--(left) and I found this nice setting--

...and did you ever notice that birds have a favorite past time of watching US as we watch them?  Well, watching me intently was the Northern Mockingbird--he kept his yellow eye on me till I moved on down the lane--nothing matches the aggression of these guys they are highly territorial-

Mimus polyglottos

When I dropped my plastic and cardboard at the recycle center I was spotted by this fellow overseeing everything-making sure I put all my stuff in the correct bins--this is the Loggerhead Shrike-notice the almost raptor shaped tip on the beak--this bird is a hunter! Notice he is sitting on barbed wire he will impale his catch on a sharp spine in aid in ripping it up to eat. 

Lanius ludovicianus

In the afternoon I was busy filling up the feeders in the yard and many birds waited and watched including this curious little fellow-the Chipping Sparrow-

Spizella passerina

I enjoy comparisons so here is the Carolina Chickadee seen in my backyard...

Parus carolinensis

...then the  Black Capped Chickadee--differences to look for are the black bibb is not as neatly outlined as the Carolina-and the wing feathers have more detailed /heavier streaking along the edges--this one shot in the northern part of SC in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains-in my sisters back yard....although this shot doesnt show either of those ID tips...very well

Parus atricapillus

...and the Mountain Chickadee-I found this one out west in my other sister's back yard in Colorado and the Rocky Mountains..the difference is striking as
you see -- white stripes on the head-this guy was really staring me down!

Parus gambeli

And another shot of that stripped head on this Mountain Chickadee in Bryce Canyon, Utah HE pretended to ignore me, but as you can see he styled for me so he knew I was there-

Just to sort of throw a monkey wrench into this string of song birds I wanted to show an -update photo-...one WBW post i did was about a Muscovy Duckling--and this is how he/she looked on my last visit to the Oak Grove Lake-he was slipping on the ice a bit--looking sort of clumbsy out of water-

                               
                                           Adult Muscovy Duck someone requested a better look-



                                                                      Baby Muscovy

cairina moschata

I hope you all found something of interest here today--make sure to visit Springman's blog and post your own World Bird Wednesday adventure or just to see other bloggers offerings! Thanks for stopping by-